You’ll love all these interesting vampire bat facts for kids. Bats are the only flying-mammals in the world. But vampire bats have this unique ability to drink blood of livestock and birds. These mammals hunt during hours of darkness while they sleep in daytime. Unlike other bats, they can leap and even walk on land. The family of vampire bats got separated from its ancestors around 26 million years ago. Three species of vampire bats are recognized: Common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), Hairy-legged vampire bat, and White-winged vampire bat. Let’s see common vampire bat facts to know all about vampire bats.
Vampire Bat Facts for Kids
Common Vampire bat has cone-like muzzle (nose and mouth). The color of its upper coat is grayish-brown to golden. It has few but thin, razor-sharp blade-like teeth to make a cut onto the skin. These bats are different from fruit-eating bats. The nose of a common vampire bat possesses unique thermoreceptors, which is used in locating blood-flowing skin area of the victim.
The size of a common vampire bat is around 7 to 9 centimeters and a wingspan of 35 to 40 centimeters. It weighs around 30 to 40 grams and gains twice its own weight during single feeding.
Vampire Bat Lifespan: The average lifespan of a common vampire bat is around 9 to 12 years.
The peak seasons for giving births are from April to May and October to November. Normally, the female gives birth to a single offspring. The mother suckles her pup for 60 days.
Vampire bats are native to the Americas. They are found in South and Central America. The range of these mammals extend from Mexico, Chile and all the way up to Argentina.
Where do Vampire Bats Live? They inhabit tropical, subtropical and humid areas. They tend to live in inky black habitats including abandoned buildings, caves, hollow trees and old wells.
What do Vampire Bats Eat? Vampire bats depend on blood as the only source of food and hunt in the darkest of hours. They lap up blood of mammals and birds (and rarely humans). The baby bats drink milk from their mothers.
The female adult bats can live for about 2 days without drinking blood. Within about 20 minutes, a female bat drinks more than 20 grams of blood.
These mammals gather in colonies, ranging from 100 to 1,000 animals.
